Tight End Casey Kelly 'Just Plays Hard' During Position Competition at Ole Miss
Ole Miss tight end Casey Kelly is getting prepared for his fourth season in Oxford, Miss., after having his best season as a Rebel last fall.
Kelly was the most productive tight end for Ole Miss last season, hauling in 17 receptions for 150 yards and two touchdowns, but this spring, he received some competition from the transfer portal.
Tight end Michael Trigg joined the Ole Miss tight end room in January after transferring from USC, immediately providing competition for Kelly.
Kelly is not phased by the addition of Trigg, however, and spoke to reporters after practice on Thursday about how he felt when Trigg transferred to Ole Miss.
"I just control what I can control, you know?" said Kelly. "I can't control what coach [Kiffin ] wants to do with everything. I just play hard and do what I need to do. I have confidence in my ability that I can get anything done on the field."
While Kelly and Trigg are competing with each other for the starting spot at tight end, they have also been helping each other out this spring.
"Everybody feeds off of each other," said Kelly. "We want everyone to win here, we want everyone to compete, and we want everyone to do their job... [Trigg's] taught me stuff and I've taught him stuff. We're just feeding off each other and both getting better in ways we couldn't before."
Kelly is not scared of a challenge and sees the competition as an opportunity to improve himself and his team. He also provided insight into the ongoing quarterback competition at Ole Miss between Luke Altmyer and Jaxson Dart.
"I've seen strides out of both of them, honestly," said Kelly. "I haven't seen one rush the other or one bring down the other. I've seen them both working together.
"As soon as they step on the field, there's no bickering or competing. They're both just trying to gunsling it and do their best. I've seen a lot from both of them."
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